LOVE 4 THE CHILDREN

     On November 29, 2014 we organized a conference dedicated to the Christian ministry of salvation to orphans: “Belarus without orphans”. The main slogan of the conference is “Life for the children”! I would like to thank everyone who was part of this conference through the prayers, finances and through sharing of information! Your support was very timely and essential for the implementation of this project!
In these latter days more and more often we hear that Christian ministers and Christian parents who took orphans to their families lose their heart. This is the challenge for the whole Christianity! When we meet with the administration of the National Adoption Center, it is painful to hear statistics numbers of how many Christian families return orphans back to the orphanages… Wounded children, wounded parents and pangs of conscience which constantly says “What kind of disciple of Christ you are, if you failed God’s work?”
We constantly receive letters from the parents with cries for help: “Help us! We do not know what to do with teenagers!” Here is an example of one of letters: “Dear brother, Dmitry! It is already 11 years since I have become a foster mother. Most children grew up but I have a foster daughter who is going to turn 15 soon. We have a problem. How to help the girl to have a proper attitude toward boys? How to help her to have a proper attitude toward unbelieving teenagers? How to protect her from temptation of early relations between teenagers of different genders?” So many letters soaked in pain and helplessness!
Having observed all these grievous facts, we have decided to organize annual conferences in which we are going give answers to the arising problems. To the conferences traveled 70 parents who already adopted or foster orphans and 30 parents who are thinking about adoption or fostering. There were some unbelieving families who found out about the conference and decided to come. We believe that together, with God’s help, we would be able to change statistic of social and spiritual orphanhood in our society!
Where if not in the church? Where if not among Christians one can find help, encouragement, when broken faith on the edge of burning out? What to do if you are on the edge of returning children back to the orphanage? In our country it is not so easy to ask for help because this family would be at risk of losing children. This is why so many problems and pain are hidden in the families who foster orphans. It seems that the whole country wants to change the statistics but for the lack of support we lose our heart and it looks like that God does not hear our prayers. But it is not so! And we are together with you, seeing all the pain, are trying to change the statistics of returns, by saving through Jesus Christ and his anointed ones the families of those who are on the edge of returning orphans.
We invited to the conference wonderful speakers who have tremendous experience in fostering children in their families. They are people who know by experience what families who foster orphans in their homes will run into. This is why many seminars were so relevant, so practical that you could see the response not just in eyes but also in the hearts of those who listened! On the seminars it was visible that it is for the lack of knowledge that the nation and children are suffering. The whole pain of families was lifted. For example, early and teenagers’ problems with sexual maturation in boys and girls. Finally many families opened up about problems that tormented them for a long time. After all, in our culture little is spoken about sexual maturation and about problems that teenagers and their guardians encounter.
For years we lived in isolation from each other without fellowship facing alone the problems that we encounter. The conference has allowed us to meet each other and created a platform where we can exchange our experiences. Many families have acquired new friends who are going to help them to better face problems because everyone has its own experience. Families that came to the conference to learn about adoption, fostering, guardianship received qualitative, professional help. And experience of speakers help to dispel the gossips! After all through the prism of experience everything is perceived differently!
From the response of conference participants we see that the conference gave many answers to the many delicate questions that tormented the families. It is wonderful that together with rich experience of speakers and participants of the conference the answers were found to the most uncomfortable but the most worrying questions! We are thankful to God for His presence on the conference and help in solving of these problematic questions!
We believe that the seed that was planted will bear its fruit and our country will become the country without orphans!